About the Film

“Death is Smoking My Cigars” is the first animated short from Misfit Productions. The film is an adaptation of the eponymous poem, written by Charles Bukowski and published in his 1992 collection, The Last Night of the Earth Poems. This collection examines themes of death, immortality, writing, literature, war, illness, and urban culture. “Death is Smoking My Cigars” dramatizes the poet’s dance with death, as he reminisces about the determination with which he has lived life, and finds transcendent meaning within existence despite its inevitable end.

Visual Development

For this animated short, we wanted to create an art style that would uniquely fit the weighty but defiant tone of the poem.

The shapes are sharp-edged and painted in dark shades to convey the central theme of death and mortality. Each frame was painstakingly hand-drawn, and then digitally woven into 3D surfaces to look as seamless as possible.

We designed the house with gothic revival architecture in mind, using rich dark colors, framed paintings on the walls, and classic wooden furniture. The use of light in the present day and flashback frames evokes significant moments in the protagonist’s life.

Bukowski is introduced as a time-worn writer sitting at a desk, contemplating his life: his successes, his dreams, and his mortality. Death appears as a character and moves about the room; the interactions between the poet and death are curious, almost playful. We wanted to give a sense of familiarity in the animation; of Bukowski and death as companions, despite their existential antagonism.

The younger version of Bukowski is designed in contrast to the older version. The latter-day Bukowski is a dark-haired, dynamic character who’s spiritedly toiling away at his desk.

Throughout the film, you can hear Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor (also known as the Pathétique Symphony) playing in the background. This classic piece of music is referenced directly in the poem, where the poet is listening to it while he works. The piece was also Tchaikovsky’s final symphony – a fitting accompaniment to a poem where Bukowski countenances the end of his own life.